Episode 3 – Crunch time for insects

Intro (00:10):

Science on the menu, a podcast by the European Food Safety Authority.

James (00:19):

Hello, and welcome to you all for this very special episode of EFSA's podcast series, Science on the menu. Today, in fact, we are going to be talking about something rather unusual on our menus, and that is insects. Maybe your idea of a tasty snack is a piece of fruit or some biscuits, or a couple of slices of toast and jam. But what would you say if you were offered something a bit more adventurous? Fried crickets or grasshoppers, for example, which are popular in Thailand and Mexico, where they're prepared with special sauces or chili and lime. Well, we are going to explore what eating insects is all about today, and also talk about how we at EFSA are involved with this issue. So let's begin. And joining me in the studio today to shed some light on this subject is one of EFSA's novel food experts, Ermolaos Ververis. Ermolaos a very warm welcome to you. And how are you doing?

Ermolaos (01:24):

Hello, James. Thank you a lot for having me here. I'm very excited actually to talk about this topic today.

James (01:30):

Good. Well, we are very excited to have you here as well. Actually, before we begin, I should just say to our listeners, so those of you who stay with us for the duration of this podcast, will be rewarded with a surprise at the end, and I'm not going to give away too much more for the time being, but do stay with us to find out what that means. Okay. So Ermolaos, let's begin at the beginning, so to speak. And when we talk about insects, we talk about insects as a novel food. So maybe we just clarify for our listeners what we mean by novel foods.

Ermolaos (02:07):

Sure, let me ask you actually, what does it come to your mind when you hear the word novel?

James (02:15):

Novel? For me, well, new!

Ermolaos (02:17):

Correct. Novel can be something new. It can be something that's unusual, something that is not conventional, but it can also be something innovative. Actually for us Europeans whatever has not been consumed in Europe, in the European Union before 1997, up to a significant amount, and is coming from a new source - it's produced using new technologies, it's a new substance, or something traditionally consumed in countries outside of the European Union - is considered novel food.

James (02:56):

Okay. So, examples of novel food. What have we got in the EU already?

Ermolaos (03:01):

As you have already mentioned, insects and products thereof do count as novel foods. Also, some other examples could be UV treated milk and bread, the non-sticking chewing gum.

James (03:16):

Non-sticking chewing gum?

Ermolaos (03:18):

Yes. Actually it was a compound added to chewing gums that would prevent them from sticking on the floor and surfaces in general. And also something traditionally consumed outside is like chia seeds that came to us from South America. But we should also have in our minds that here in Europe we have always been exposed to novelty, to dietary novelties. Foods that we currently consider staples, like something ordinary, like tomatoes, potatoes, have arrived here some centuries ago.

James (03:58):

Fascinating to think about that - that tomatoes, potatoes, really staple parts of the Mediterranean diet - are, well once, novel foods themselves.

James (04:20):

We're talking about insects today. And, you know, for many consumers in Europe the idea takes some getting used to, let's say. But outside of the EU, we know that insects are a very important part of many diets and different geographies across the world.

Ermolaos (04:39):

Indeed, James, as you have correctly pointed out, insects, some species of insects, have been part of the diet of different populations around the globe up to a different degree and consumed under different occasions. As you have said, for us here in Europe, it's something new. By legislation, it is: insects and their products are novel food so we have to assess their safety before they may end up in the European market. But also we have to keep in mind that all these things, you know, have changed throughout our history. You know Aristotle back in ancient Greece? In one of his books, it's called History of Animals, he described different animal species: how they look like, what they do, all these kind of aspects. And he described some insects, and in the description of this insect he was saying how taste changed from the females to males, and actually saying which one tastes better. And this automatically means that somebody back in ancient Greece used to consume insects. However, we don't know how much or under which occasions, but it's something that agrees exactly with what you said: our dietary patterns, they change, they evolve, they include or exclude different food items.

James (06:18):

Yeah, yeah. I find it, like I said, I find it fascinating. You are a Greek man yourself. Presumably they're not eating insects, you know, it's not widespread on the menu in Greece today?

Ermolaos (06:33):

No, no. I would say definitely no. Our dietary habits and patterns have changed since then a lot.

James (06:39):

Yeah. They probably weren't doing food risk assessment back then either.

Ermolaos (06:42):

<laugh> I will say no.

James (06:44):

No, and not in a systematic way anyway. And maybe that's an opportunity just to ask you, you know, where does EFSA come in?

Ermolaos (06:50):

EFSA, for novel foods, same as for other aspects of the food and feed chain: we provide scientific advice to the risk managers. Risk managers are the European Commission, the Member States. So what we do here at EFSA is to assess the safety of products deriving from insects. What we do is also to take care of collaborations in this scientific field and also to communicate our findings to the public and also to all those interested in EFSA's work.

James (07:28):

Yeah. Okay. Maybe just to be clear on what we mean by risk managers. So there essentially we're talking about policy makers, legislators at the European level - so, the European Commission, for example, and the relevant authorities in the Member States, the competent bodies who essentially make law, and decide on whether or not to authorise products for placement on the market in the EU.

Ermolaos (07:54):

Yeah, exactly.

James (07:55):

Okay, so, we have a role generally speaking in scientific risk assessments and providing scientific advice. When it comes to the assessment, the risk assessment of insects, what is it we are looking for specifically?

Ermolaos (08:12):

So for insects, same as for all novel foods, EFSA has already provided some guidance on what is to be considered for assessing their safety. We look into many different aspects: how these animals are farmed, aspects of the production process in general, what is in there from a compositional point of view, studies that have to do with toxicity, allergenicity. So, nutrition. So we put together all these elements, together with experts from all over Europe. And, in this way, we proceed with the safety assessment. For insects, what we have assessed so far: only a few products from specific species, insect species. We have found that one very important element linked to the safety is what insects eat. Because many of these species have the ability to accumulate hazardous compounds if they are present in the feed - for example, heavy metals, some toxins. So we don't want these compounds to be in the insects and at the end in the food.

James (09:33):

Yeah.

Ermolaos (09:34):

Some other aspects that we have, let's say we’re somehow alerting, were allergenicity aspects because we found that insects can cause allergic reactions to people who do not have allergies so far, but also to people who have already allergies, allergic reactions to some other foods, for example, to shrimps, to mollusks. And also another important element is that we consume the insects, usually the entire insect, right? So it means that there may be some traces of allergens from the feed, for example, gluten or soy. So, all of these elements have to be taken into consideration regarding the safety of this product.

James (10:25):

Okay. Yeah. That's interesting. In some, well, in many respects I guess, the assessment of insects as novel food is similar to what we would do for, you know, other commodities or other products that we're looking at. So just because it's an insect it doesn't really make much of a difference, I guess, with the actual risk assessment itself.

Ermolaos (10:47):

I mean, correctly, let's say the principles of risk assessment that we follow have been already defined for all novel foods. Of course, from our conversation, you may have understood that novel foods can be really diverse. You can have almost everything, like plants, microorganisms, insects, algae so every time we have to tailor the risk assessment. But the principles remain always the same in order to have a harmonised approach in our assessments.

James (11:28):

With that in mind, what is the current situation then as far as insects are concerned? Do we have any insect products already approved in the EU?

Ermolaos (11:39):

Yeah, yeah. We have some. Actually, back in 2021 in January, EFSA released the first safety assessment of an insect-derived product. And since then, some others followed. We have assessed products deriving from the yellow mealworm, lesser mealworm, grasshoppers, and also house crickets. And we have some more on the pipeline. And some of them have been already authorised to be placed in the EU market.

James (12:12):

And just so that we are clear with our listeners, we're talking about farmed insects. We're not talking about insects that you might find…

Ermolaos (12:19):

Yeah. Indeed.

James (12:19):

Running around your house, or…?

Ermolaos (12:21):

No, indeed. All the assessed products, and subsequently those authorised, have to do only with farmed insects because one of the very important elements of the risk assessment is a detailed description and assessment of the production process.

James (12:41):

Okay. Well, Ermolaos, I think that gives us a really nice overview and understanding of what's going on here at EFSA. And also more broadly on the issue of insects in food. I promised our listeners a surprise, and this will come as a surprise to you as well probably, Ermolaos. I'm looking now beyond the studio to Ed. I'm going to beckon you into the studio, Ed, please. Ed is a colleague of ours, from the communications team. Now, Ed, you've brought something with you. Tell us what you've got here.

Ed (13:17):

Hi everyone.

Ermolaos (13:17):

Hi, Ed.

Ed (13:18):

I've got here a few things to try. These here are house crickets in turmeric. We have some grasshoppers in pepper. So these are whole. And here are some crackers. And they are with the flour of crickets as well as rosemary and thyme.

James (13:41):

Okay. So these are all products that you've brought, or bought?

Ed (13:46):

Not from a supermarket, but online, directly from a producer.

James (13:49):

And I think it's only right that we give these a try, Ermolaos. So, I'm going to ask you to choose, to pick one of the three.

Ermolaos (13:59):

I think I will go for a cracker.

James (14:01):

Okay. Just describe it to the listeners, Ermolaos, so what have you got there?

Ermolaos (14:05):

Well, it's square, <laugh>.

James (14:08):

It looks very much...

Ermolaos (14:09):

It looks like a regular cracker. I can smell the herbs and the spices. Let me try it.

James (14:17):

Okay.

James (14:21):

Wow. That, that sounds crunchy.

Ermolaos (14:23):

It's quite crunchy.

James (14:24):

Yeah.

Ermolaos (14:26):

I don't know. I just feel the herbs <laugh>.

James (14:30):

Yeah. Okay. We should say, I mean, it comes in a packet that looks like a, you know, packet of crisps, let's say. Okay. So I've got a cricket here in my hand. Yeah, it's hard to describe. I mean, if you look very closely, you can see clearly that it's, you know, that it's an insect. It's dried. And it's got a sort of coating, a powdery coating on it, which I presume is the turmeric.

Ermolaos (14:55):

It's quite orange.

James (14:56):

Yeah. So it's quite orange. So I'm going to give that a go.

Ed (15:00):

That leaves then the grasshopper for me.

James (15:02):

It does, it does indeed <laugh>.

Ed (15:04):

They're considerably bigger than the crickets. I would say these must be, maybe, a couple of centimetres long. And it says to remove the wings. I'm looking at Ermolaos.

Ermolaos (15:15):

Yes, yes, you did well because in case you have big insects, it's better to remove wings and legs because, you know, they can be a hazard when you consume it.

James (15:28):

As a choking hazard?

Ermolaos (15:30):

Yeah, yeah.

Ed (15:31):

Okay. Well, let's try this. Very peppery. That’s the spice that it comes with.

Ermolaos (15:40):

To be honest, I wouldn't have expected you were so adventurous. Myself, it's difficult for me to consume an insect in a visible form, whole as it is. For me, like a cracker when I don't see it, it's not a big deal, but a whole insect, no. Actually there are quite some studies on the acceptance of edible insects by consumers also in western countries. And the outcome of these studies points towards the direction that edible insects may have higher acceptance when they're not in a visible form. Like, for example, when they're included in the food stuff in the form of powder.

James (16:24):

Yeah. Which is what you had with your crackers there. Well, we'll have to see what happens with insects. Ultimately, as you say, that's in the hands and mouths of the consumers.

James (16:43):

Okay. Let's call it a day there. Thank you very much Ermolaos for being with us for the podcast, for sharing your expertise and experience.

Ermolaos (16:52):

Thank you. Thank you a lot for having me here. And thanks Ed for this unexpected surprise.

James (17:02):

Thank you all to our listeners as well. We will be back soon with the next episode of our podcast. And we very much hope to have you there. Thank you and goodbye.

Ermolaos (17:12):

Bye bye.